UNH team doctor treated people at Boston Marathon

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 6:30 AMApr 17, 2013 at 7:28 AM

NH doctor who served in combat treated people after marathon blasts

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire doctor volunteering in a Boston Marathon medical tent switched from treating runners with chills and cramps to those who were wounded after two bombs went off at the finish line.

Fred Brennan, head team physician for the University of New Hampshire who served as a combat emergency room doctor in Iraq, found himself advising a volunteer medical team to stay calm and prepare for casualties.

Brennan told the Portsmouth Herald (http://bit.ly/Z2x236) that serving in combat and treating people after the marathon explosions were "certainly comparable." He said the difference is that wounded soldiers brought to him had already received some medical treatment en route.

Brennan said he will remember how well first responders and others pulled together to help the injured during Monday's emergency."